Muddler

Try www.Maporama.com Cheers Muddler

Well I guess we didn't really help in answering all of your questions then. I did use the software to route between POIs in Peurta Rico and it seemed to work OK. Although I could not tell you if if worked correctly because I do not know anything about PR. I just selected two locations (intersections of highways) and it routed between the two. Cheers Muddler

Just to clearify, you do not need to do the routing on you PC and then up-load to the GPS. Once you have loaded the map regions to the SD card you can select the region from within the GPS and then you are good to go for routing within the region. You have to upload the Region of the map where you need to do the routing. Then you can select POIs on the GPS and the GPS will give you turnXturn directions to your destination form your current location. You can also do on the fly reroute to show you hao to get to the destination if the previouusly selected route is not passable such as the road being closed or a wreck causing a detour. Cheers Muddler

For mapping on the GPS, Direct Route (DR) works good. I have used for several months now. Not knowing why you need the software makes it hard to really determine whether or not Topo3D (T3D) could be better. If you are needing the Routing capability then DR is the way to go. If you can get by with the street data only and do not really need the routing capability then you may consider T3D. If money is not to tight I would recommend both. because they both have advantages. There is a bit of a learning curve with both programs. by the time you get the Progs. you may not really have a lot of time to get familiar with the software which could get you really frustrated trying to get the stuff to work when you are under the gun to get results. Cheers Muddler

Well I have to admit there are a lot of varied opinions here. Do any of you leave detailed logs where you rate the cache? It would be great to have GC.com offer a rating system for caches (which has been mentioned before). With a rating system similar the method used to rate the terrain and the difficulty, finders could leave some sort of rating that others could use to determine whether they wanted to attempt the find. A rating system, where the rating is related to Experience of the finder based on No. of finds, Swag quality, just to name a couple. A rating system of this kind would require some time to mature but once you visited enough caches which had already been rated you could use Pocket Queries to filter caches by their Finder Rating and therefore search only for caches that would come close to your particular needs. I'm sure there would be significant discussion on how to rate a cache form a finder's perspective, off topic for this topic. I like the hunt and the swag. I like puzzles, multies, and caches that make me learn something of the place. I have found that using the pocket queries and reading the logs helps me know what to expect and therefore rarely disappointed. Yes I am a newb but I am a firm believer in "You get what you pay for" Cheers Muddler

I read/looked at just about every one of these. Some really cool Ideas for cache containers. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=62421 Cheers Muddler

I left a Card in the cache addressed to the FTF cacher and there are Cords to a Collapsible walking stick hidden out in the woods. I picked up the stick in Wally world. Nothing real fancy, but I wanted it to be something special for the finder of my first Cache Hide. Cheers Muddler

HYNR: Thanks for the reply! Actually, I do the export to cachemate from within GSAK and I get the progress bar, it then goes to the cmconvert and works for a little while and comes back and says "26 waypoints converted." The file size (pdb) is about 75 K. It has been 5-6 Mb. I can export to a GPX file and do the convert using CMConvert outside of GSAK and I get the expected 5-6Mb file (PDB) to install on the Palm. I have used the "send to palm" check box and it has resulted in the same file size (75K) and "26 waypoints converted" Muddler

National prices in August last year were $1.88. National prices are now $2.20, that is only $6.40 more then last year. I think I will pack a lunch and skip Mickie Ds. and keep on Caching. There was something about seeing the cost of filling a tank going over $40.00 that has some psychological effect on us. Cheers Muddler

What have I done? I go to export the GSAK database to cachemate and it looks like it goes well but when cmconvert is finished I only get 26 waypoints converted. The database has 2600 +-. I have tried to cout it back to 200, same thing. It worked before! I have looked at everything pretty closely, reloaded 5.6 again, and repaired the Database, Am I missing something? Cheers Muddler

I cache with several folks and we use the Finder's Tree approach. Like what Robert reported above. We designate a tree or other object near (50 to 100 feet) the cache as the finders tree. When you find the cache you continue to look as though you have not found the cache and make your way to the tree and declare you have found it. We all wait there and watch the others wander around till they find it also. Then we all log the cache. Cheers Muddler

Has anyone contacted the forest service concerning placing a cache in the Conecuh National Forest. I have seen several south of Andalusia in the Recreational Areas (Blue Lake and Buck Pond). I have scouted out several locations along the Conecuh Trail and was curious if any one had previously contacted the Rangers about placing a cache. The web site said call. I'll call next week, but I thought I would ask here to see if anyone had made a previous contact and what kind of response you got. Cheers Muddler

Paul, try going to the Benchmark part of Geocache.com and put in your ZIP. Pick out several of the Benchmarks in your area. These Survey points are very accurate. Plug in the Cords and go see how close you can get. Try this on different days and at different times of the day if you really want to check out your unit. Also try checking with a local surveyor, they can probably give you a location that they use to check out their equipment periodically. The surveyors with my company have a pin located on our property that they used to check things when necessary, I've used it and I have found that some days I am off in one direction and some days off in another. The error is 10-15 feet usually, there have been days when I could stand on the pin, those are the days I choose to buy Loto tickets. Just remember if you are off 15 feet and the hider was of 15 feet, that is a 30 foot error. Cheers Muddler

I live in south Alabama and travel to visit to several of the cities in the state and in the panhandle of Florida. I sort caches into files with up to 200 files based on the location I will travel near. I select "Nearest" and look through the top of the list to find the Cache I need once I get in the area. I would not for example load a "GOTO" for a cache in Birmingham if I was still located in the south of the state because I would need to go through a whole bunch of locations to get to the cache file I needed. I would wait till I got closer to B'ham to select the cache. There is the problem of the number of files located in B'ham being greater the 200. I have 4 files containing caches for the North, south east and west of B'ham, and limit the file size to 100. Hope this helps. It would be nice if there was an alphbetical lookup but there isn't so I just figured a different way to get what I needed. Cheers Muddler

Although the version No. was different I saved a copy of the excutable and modified the copy. I edited the executable as per the directions and then ran the copy. It asked for the disk but when you tell it "cancel" it will runs the program anyway. Cheers Muddler

There is a way to hack the exe file and get the program to run without having to use the CD. Goto the Yahoo groups forum page and search for mapsend (i think) It takes a hex editing program to do the changes . I got a program off of the internet and did the hack and now I do not have to load the cd each time. Cheers Muddler

Without a doubt the only way to go is getting a wireless card and only stay at motels that offer wireless connections in the room. I would not do it any other way. In addition there are getting to be more and more placed that are providing access using wireless. Goto Yahoo maps and search for a town, then select the WIFI hot spot locater ther are in most cities. Cheers Muddler

Have any of you seen this explorist 500 3A battery pack? I found the pic on the yahoo group site. I have no way of contacting the poster (pcmobile99) to find out where it is available. http://f5.grp.yahoofs.com /v1/UKGPQooOgfhiM..._3A_adapter.jpg If any of you can find out how to get one please post here. Cheers Muddler

I dive a lot in the Gulf of Mexico in the Ft Walton Destin area. A number of your ideas seem good but you need to consider several things for dive sites in the ocean: Any type of floating marker will be muggled very quickly or removed as a navigation hazard. No log book would survive underwater. Any container left underwater for any period will quickly become encrusted with barnicals and scale. Rope will quickly rot and poly rope will deteriorate withing a year. Any significant storm can move a a 100 pound object on the ocean floor at 100 feet deep. Sand moves during storms and can cover parts of a shipwreck. If you are going to involve SCUBA as part of a cache I would suggest attaching a plaque probably of aluminum, using a heavy chain and a good lock. Attaching the plaque to the structure of a wreck in some predominant location would allow any diver to locate information on the plaque. Before placing the plaque, have a welder inscribe several numbers or letters that could be used in some formula to determine the location of an onshore cache. As for a dive location select a location known to the diving public and dive boat operators in the area. Wrecks are good because they have easily recognizable things like the bow, stern or a pilot house. Reefs are hard to describe and rubble piles for man made reefs can be spread over large areas making the cache information. Mention in your Cache page, several Dive shops in the area that know the location of your plaque. Tell the dive shops that you mentioned their name and tell them about geocaching and they will be more then glad to let their divers know about the plaque so that it does not get destroyed by their clients. Scuba Divers love to find treasure and any plaque will look pretty much like treasure after a year or so. Be prepared to dive the site at least once or twice a year a year to clean the plaque. If you use a bolt and or a lock with a heavy chain, things should rust up nicely in a couple of weeks where no one will be able to get it loose. Cheers Muddler

I too got mine from Harmony. The Shipping price is a little steep ($15) but that still beats any other price I have found.

Limiting the number of caches to 200 is relatively easy with GSAK. Use the filter to sort the caches in the order you need. then goto the USER FLAG menu and select "Set for next NN records" This will set the user flag on the first NN records (where NN can be set to 200). Go back to the filter and filter using the User Flag "set" . You will be left with the first 200 geocaches.

Mapsend DR Question. Is there a way to tell DR to route through certain points. I have set WPs at different locations and used the Build Route function and clicked on the series of points or locations that I wanted to Route through. However, when I click on the (route1) that I built and tell DR to create a Street Route for the route, It has a mind of its own. It goes around Robin Hood's Barn from my Start point to the Finish Point but does not route anywhere close (I mean it is on the other side of the State) to the route I would like to go. The route I would like to go should be about 2.5 hours, mostely over Interstate, and the route it selects and routes is 4.5 hours and over secondary roads. I want to force DR to route to certain Cities that I choose and build a route to my start and finish through the cities I choose. Is there a way this can be done?? Cheers Muddler

The E-500 uses maps from Mapsend and the Map Data cpmes in several layers which are loaded as several parts of a file. There is no way to geo-reference the data on a scanned map to give the GPSr reference points to determine your location on the map. To be gepreferenced the GPSr has to know where certain things or reference points are on the scaned image. This requires a lot more then scanning a map to a map.tif file and uploading it to your GPSr. Roads, POIs, contours and other data are all georeferenced on the mapsend map files. This way your GPSr can locate you on a road, lake or on a mountain top. Cheers Muddler

I am in the process of converting and saving several regions in DR right now. If you find the proceedure for allowing to see in a scale greater then 100 please post the proceedure here. Cheers Muddler

embra: Thanks for your help. I can recommend the T3D for the POIs and DR for the routing put the 2 together and I get what I need. I guess I was expecting the same POIs in DR as T3D at least the stuff that were POIs along the highway. I guess I need to keep fiddlin and eventually I will figure this all out. Cheers Muddler